Chapter Twelve

Rory herself was surprised that she had enjoyed her date with Logan. When they were younger, their relationship had been plagued with drama. They had make ups, break ups, cheating, theft, dropping out of school, fights with family, fights because of their family, crazy antics, and even a death scare. Rory had never been bored with Logan, but she had also never really felt secure in their relationship. There were moments, when she thought she could see herself growing old with Logan, the two of them sitting on a porch watching blonde haired, blue eyed grandchildren running around in the yard in front of them. However, the idyllic bubble was always quickly burst by one of the many dramatic events that were so common.

But her date with Logan. It had Rory once again thinking about that porch and those grandchildren. There hadn't been drama; there had been potential of drama surrounding Logan's marital status, but that drama had quickly fizzled out. Logan was no longer married, and Rory wasn't his potential mistress. Once she'd gotten home and away from the headiness that was Logan, Rory had checked out that claim. She'd texted an acquaintance who wrote for a number of gossip columns and had the end of Logan's marriage confirmed.

So, the bubble grew. There were definitely things that, if Rory really focused on them could burst her bubble.

She was currently investigating Logan and his company for illegal activity. That had the potential of raining down a lot of drama, but Rory had yet to actually find anything on Huntzberger Enterprise so maybe there was nothing to find.

Then there was the way she'd felt around Jess. That had been only a week before she'd agreed to the date with Logan. She hadn't seen him since and she hadn't really processed what she was feeling and what it could potentially mean. But she probably wasn't going to see Jess too often. They hadn't really run into each other in a decade so what would make the future any different than the past?

The last fact that could burst Rory's bubble was her son. Logan was Ricky's father. Logan did not know that. If he found out, or even if Rory told him, it could lead to a fight or a court case, and, while she and Logan would still technically have grandchildren to run around a front yard, there would definitely be no sitting beside Logan on a porch. But, Rory reasoned, she had kept her secret from everyone, even her best friend and mother, for ten years. Why would it come out know?

In the days after her date with Logan, Rory was still so taken up him, so wrapped up in the romance she'd experienced, and the feelings that had come flooding back, that she wasn't thinking straight. She was dismissing facts and inconveniences that she really shouldn't have, but they made her relationship (or whatever it was that she had) with Logan problematic and, for once in her life, Rory wanted a stress-free, adult relationship. She wanted things to be easy and romantic. She didn't want to have to work at it. And if she simply didn't concern herself with all the potential issues, she had that with Logan.

About a week after her first date with Logan in a decade, something happened that made it even easier for Rory to delude herself and ignore her potential concerns. She had been at work, trying (though not very hard) and not succeeding to get in contact with her source in Huntzberger Enterprises. She hadn't heard hide nor hair from Olivia in almost two weeks, though she hadn't really been pushing too hard for the last week. It was all part of the delusion.

Rory had just sent another email, a short one asking Olivia to contact her, when a ping sounded indicating she had received an email. Rory knew that it couldn't be a response; she'd literally sent her email thirty seconds before. What she thought the sound indicated was an automated email saying that hers had failed to be sent, for whatever reason. She clicked on the small dialogue box that had popped up without really reading it, thinking that she was just going to delete it.

However, instead of opening up a typical email message box, only seconds after she clicked, her computer went black. Seconds later, but long enough for Rory to worry that she'd unwittingly downloaded a virus onto her work computer, old-style bright green computer text appeared on her screen.

Are you ready? the text read.

Rory was now very confused. She was about 80% sure that this wasn't a virus. She'd never heard of malware that took over your computer and then asked you if you were prepared for something. However, Rory didn't know what to do, so she simply sat and stared at her computer.

Time for an adventure.

The new text appeared on her screen, replacing the previous three words. As soon as the period was mysteriously typed onto the screen, music began to sound. Rory knew it wasn't coming from her computer, or, more accurately, Rory knew it wasn't coming from her computer alone. All around her, she could hear the same music playing. It quickly began to fill up office. Her coworkers began looking around, trying to figure out what was going on.

Come outside.

As the last two words appeared on the screen, the music reached a crescendo. It was louder than it had been only seconds before and now everyone in the open area that was filled with cubicles, as well as those in positions of higher authority who had offices around the space, was aware of it.

Rory didn't want to follow instructions given to her by a mysterious person on her computer. That was the start of one of those thriller movies where she is kidnapped by international spies and some rouge, extremely handsome agent would be forced to try and rescue her. However, if she stayed everyone in the office would know that the strange disturbance that had shattered the previously quite working environment had come from her computer.

Without thinking about it too much further, Rory grabbed her coat and ducked out the back stairway. She was pretty sure that no one had seen her leave, so hopefully her behaviour wouldn't come off as too suspicious. She waited in the stairwell for a few seconds just to be sure. If someone had seen her hurried retreat, she could play it off as just wanting to get away from the music; it was pretty ear splitting.

However, no one came, and Rory quickly made her way down the stairwell and out onto the street. She pushed open the heavy exterior door, raised her hand to block the sudden flash of bright sunlight, and then turned to see if she could spot the person responsible for the disturbance.

She didn't have to look long.

Almost directly opposite the door, as if whoever had organized the events knew that Rory would come out the emergency exit doors, stood an elegant town car. A well-dressed man with a driver's hat stood at the back door and, upon spotting Rory, opened it up to her. Once again, Rory experienced a slight moment of hesitancy, worried about that international spy organization, but it quickly passed.

Rory hurried across the back lot and into the car. As soon as she'd seen it, and gotten over her irrational concerns about spies, Rory knew what was happening. This thing, silly and yet bothersome, had the telltale signs, the mark, of the Life and Death brigade.

"I knew you'd come," Logan spoke. He sat in a seat opposite the door where Rory stood, a glass of amber liquid in his hand and an impish look on his face. He then took his hand with the glass in it and motioned to the seat beside him. Rory hesitated; she wasn't sure if she should get into the car and skip a day of work. Then, she thought about what her job was at that moment. She was supposed to be investigating him. Surely, if someone really cared that much, she could justify spending the day with him.

Her mind settled; Rory climbed into the town car. Logan tapped on the divider between the back seat and the driver. The car then slowly began to move, and Logan began pouring Rory a drink.

"So, what's the plan?" Rory asked as Logan handed her a drink. She was a little surprised to see that it was a gin martini. It had always been her mother's drink of choice and recently Rory had started drinking them, but she hadn't thought that Logan was aware of it.

"I thought a nice weekend was in order. And I would have sent you a message or asked you out in a more normal way, but I'd already made the reservations and I couldn't wait another week to wear you down until you agreed with me. I figured this would be my most effective way." Logan smiled impishly at her and Rory couldn't help but think about their initial meeting, what drew them together back in University.

It had been the Life and Death Brigade then and it was the Life and Death Brigade now.

The inn where Logan had made his reservation was absolutely spectacular. It was situated on a lake in the middle of the woods. It felt like it was in another, magical, fairy tale world. Rory couldn't believe that this was her life.

The room was cozy, rugs on the floor and a large fireplace the took up almost the whole wall. There was a roaring fire when they arrived, and it created a warm, snug glow. Rory instantly felt calm and relaxed. She knew it was going to be a good weekend.

They spent the first night in their room. Logan ordered room service for dinner, an extravagant meal of steak and vegetables and an absolutely delicious wine. Rory felt a glow within her, a glow she remembered and, in all honesty missed, from their days together in university.

"This is unbelievable," Rory mused as she lay, sprawled out on one of the large couches in front of the fire. She had her head in Logan's lap, feeling absolutely at ease.

"This is just another weekend for me," Logan boasted, a playful smirk on his face. Rory turned her body from facing the fire to looking up at Logan.

"You have a lot of women up here?" Rory teased back, though in the back of her mind she was curious about his answer. When she had first met Logan, he had made it clear that he was not a relationship person. He had changed his mind eventually, his desire to be with Rory overwhelming his playboy attitude. Then he'd gotten married and stayed married for almost a decade. So surely, he wasn't the same playboy Rory had first met, but she wasn't entirely sure.

"No," Logan responded, suddenly sounding very serious, "I usually come up here on my own. It's sort of an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Running a company can make life quite hectic and every once in a while, I just need an escape." As Logan spoke, his voice developed a far away quality, almost as if he was reminiscing about other times that he had come up to the Catskills.

Rory was relieved that she was the only girl that he had brought to visit the inn. In fact, what she was feeling was more than relief. She felt special. This was Logan's sanctuary, in a sense, his escape. Normally, your escape was for you and you alone. Yet here she was, nestled in the warmth of a fire.

As the information rolled over her, that same strange out of body experience that Rory had felt the last time she was around Logan overcame her once again. She felt as if she was no longer in complete control of her body. Things were happening before her brain had the chance to process it and make the decision of whether she wanted it. That whole part was skipped over and her body just decided that she did want it and acted on it.

It was because of that sensation that Rory found herself sitting up from her position and moving so that she was sideways on the couch facing Logan. Then she leaned in and began to kiss him, slow at first and them more intense and hurried as the seconds passed. Before she knew it, she was sitting in Logan's lap, their lips alternatively fused together or exploring each other's body. And, it was with this out of body experience that Rory found herself, perhaps against his better judgement, falling into bed with her ex-boyfriend (and secret father of her son).